Australia Drops Fast Bowler Johnson for First Time for Second Ashes Test

By Dan Baynes -
Dec 2, 2010

Australia dropped fast bowler
Mitchell Johnson, the International Cricket Council’s Player of
the Year in 2009, for the second Ashes Test against England.

Johnson, who finished the drawn first Test in Brisbane with
figures of 0-170, was told yesterday that he wouldn’t be playing
at the Adelaide Oval, Australia captain Ricky Ponting said. Doug
Bollinger and Ryan Harris are vying for a place in the final 11,
which will be decided before play begins tomorrow, he said.

It’s the first time since making his debut against Sri
Lanka in November 2007 that left-hander Johnson, 29, has been
left out of Australia’s Test team. He also dropped a catch and
failed to score a run off 19 balls in Brisbane.

“The selectors felt that he’s just down on a bit of form
and down on a bit of rhythm,” Ponting said at a news conference.
“Test match cricket is hard enough as it is without having to
try and find those types of things in the middle of a match.”

Australian selectors called Bollinger and Harris into a 13-
man squad immediately after the series opener at the Gabba,
where England amassed a record 517-1 declared in its second
innings to secure a draw after trailing by 221 runs.

“I didn’t get wickets and didn’t perform in that Test,”
Johnson told reporters today. “I’m a strike bowler for
Australia and I need to be getting wickets.”

Coaching Help

Johnson will stay with the squad and work with bowling
coach Troy Cooley, Australia coach Tim Nielsen said. He may be
given the chance to play for his Western Australia state team
before the third Test in Perth, which starts Dec. 16.

“Out there on the Oval in the middle of a game was no
place to try and fix any issues that you’ve got with your
technique or your form,” Nielsen said. “You want to be going
into every game you can as positive as you can.”

Johnson said getting away from the “hype” of cricket’s
oldest international rivalry may help him regain the form that
yielded 166 wickets at an average of 30.08 runs in his first 39
Tests.

“Mentally I feel fine,” Johnson said. “I just need to
keep working on my bowling and make sure I’m feeling strong with
my bowling and getting everything together.”

England captain Andrew Strauss, who led his team to a 2-1
Ashes series win in the U.K. last year, said Johnson had been a
good performer for Australia as the Test bowling spearhead.

“It’s quite a big call for them to leave him out,”
Strauss told reporters. “We’ve got to be ready for whoever
might take his place and make sure that we’ve got plans in place
to counteract them.”

England will name its team on the morning of the game and
selectors were “generally happy with the majority of the
performances at Brisbane,” Strauss said, adding that every
player is fit and available.